From 1880 to 1920 the American Golden Age of Illustration established American artists as the dominant force in success of the mass publication industry. Ten women illustrators among the large number of contract, staff and commissioned artists are recognized to be among the best. Original publication prints with artist and art documentation present the works of Anna Whelan Betts, Maginel Wright Enwright, Mary Hallock Foote, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Violet Oakley, Mary Wilson Preston, Florence Scovel Shinn, Jesse Willcox Smith, Alice Barber Stephens and Sarah Stillwell Weber.

Prints for the exhibition belong to the Jay Williams American Print Collection, based in Clinton, NY. Illustrations for mass-printed publications, books and public works were original works of art in paint, drawing, watercolor, illustration, printmaking, and murals. During the Golden Age of illustration the boundaries between Fine Art and commercial Art were crossed and blurred. Illustrators gave the visual dialogue to the success in market places for newspapers and magazine publications, fashion, industry and items of pop-culture.